//------------------------------// // Chapter 78: Final Shard // Story: The First Steps of the Rest of Your Life // by Rhino //------------------------------// ***Monday, Day 113*** **Evening** Once again a group of ponies are moving forward to a new blinking light on the map. This group unfortunately is minus one red earth pony since his injuries leave him in a condition unsuitable for traveling. Although Hydro did try insisting, he was shot down by Applejack who lectured him on the lesson of overexerting yourself. A lesson she knew all too well. Luckily both Volt and Twilight were here to fill the gap left by our friend. “The Everfree sure is dark at this time of day.” Blue comments as we push through another bit of undergrowth. Atom smirks and chimes in “Aren’t you the one who brags about traveling through the Everfree?” The other stallion tilts his head side to side a moment before he answers. “Well I normally keep clear of it in the dark. The weather isn’t easy to read and the night creatures are definitely less friendly.” Twilight takes up her own conversation. “I for one, love the night sky away from Ponyville. Volt, remember when we went stargazing for our second date? We need to try and do that again soon.” “I remember. It was mostly you telling me what the constellations were while I tried to act knowledgeable on the subject. Maybe we can go again tonight after we finish up here.” Volt says optimistically. Orion rushes excitedly over. “Yes indeed. Tonight is even going to have a full moon. It will be a very beautiful night for stargazing.” Twilight continues to chat with Orion while I ask her coltfriend a question I’ve been meaning to. “So Volt, how’s your leg doing?” I look down at my own limb that had been injured, it’s a bit achey at times, but at least I can walk around on it. He moves it around in an exaggerated fashion. “One hundred percent better. Twilight is the best with her new healing magic, so good it makes me a little jealous.” I raise an eyebrow at that. “Why don’t you just learn it yourself then? I’m sure she’d be willing to teach you.” “Well actually it would be a lot harder than you think, because my magic is not super useful for healing. I mean I would love to have the ability to heal like Twilight. Not even wounds like Hydro’s would be able to stand up. Did you know when I went to visit him he was only concerned about my training. He said it would improve his mood if he knew I was out there ‘killing myself with exercise.’ Talk about a true friend.” Yeah… let’s go with that. “Well in any case it is good to have your guys help.” I say honestly. Volt’s smile drops. “Yeah or at least Twilight’s help. She is far more helpful than me and most of the time I hold her back. I mean if I hadn’t of needed Twilight to help take care of me then maybe Hydro wouldn’t be in such sorry shape.” I shake my head. “Or maybe you would have gotten hurt even worse than you originally did, considering the states the rest of us came back in. It was difficult situation to be in, and Twilight being there wouldn’t exactly have secured our safety. Don’t beat yourself up about things out of your control.” Volt smile returns “Yeah. Thanks.” We walk through the dark eerie forest for a while longer until we reach the spot where the star piece impact occurred. Charred trees and broken ground are abundant as some spots still give off a burnt odor. “Focus on the starlight everypony. It will be easier to find if you do that.” Orion says “Well this starlight isn’t exactly making a very good beacon, unless it became a living creature and walked away. Heh, Starlight. Sounds like someone from your family, Twilight.” Volt goes off on a tangent. She moves over and chides him.”Come on Volt, you need to focus.” Volt looks away as if he was ashamed. “Sorry.” The mare smiles and nudges his side. “But I don’t think anybody in my family is named Starlight. It does sound like a name my parents would come up with though.” “Guys heads up!” Orion says holding the map. “It looks like we were beat here because the next piece is already on the move.” Everyone huddles around Orion to see a blinking dot move at a fair pace across the magic map. The white pegasus quickly turns towards the direction of the dot. “Alright everyone let’s follow it.” Everyone makes haste in the direction of the dot through the dark forest. Everypony seems haphazard as the star pieces preciousness overtakes our want of safety. Leaves brush past me as a twig scratches my leg. My ear flicks as I hear a thump and turn my head to see a darkened silhouette of a pony laying on the ground. I run over to see Volt sprawled across the ground having tripped on a fallen branch. I reach a hoof to help him up. “Thanks bud,” he says as he reaches out and stands back up. He steps forward only to see his hoof caught on a vine. He tugs at it and breaks free, but a whooshing noise faintly sounds as I suddenly feel sharp pains from my back end. I look over to see what appear to be a large number of green plant spines sticking out of my hindquarters. A quick look forward reveals Volt was not spared by the mysterious onslaught either, though he did receive less. He clears his throat “Looks like I ended up being a thorn in both our sides. And yes that was appropriate for the situation. Now let’s go. We don’t want to get pinned down too long.” He telekinetically shakes off all the pins and begins to run off. I sigh and follow suit in both, wondering idly about what plant would have that kind of defense mechanism, but not really being surprised by it, given where we are. The forest now makes me even more apprehensive especially since we lost track of the others. I charge forward only to be bump right into Volt, which almost knocks him off the edge of an incline we stopped at. “Looks like we found some quality seats for the show.” Volt says as he points down to the rest of our group confronting Obsidian. The large diamond dog grips the crystal in his hand with a fierce scowl on his face. Blue and Atom move forward to attack yet their wind based attacks don’t match up to his heavy plating. Twilight takes this opportunity to pelt him with her magic blast, which knocks him back, but doesn't seem to be effective either. The purple unicorn then charges her horn and releases a large wave of magical force that manages to actually throw the behemoth of a canine off balance. This in turn causes him to let the crystal free and be carried high into the air before he falls into the ground. Luckily it flies right to where we are standing and Volt snags the prize with a bit of magic. “Yes! We got it! We won the day!” He jumps happily before losing his balance and tumbling down the incline. I reach out to grab him, only to begin tumbling as the unstable cliff crumbles under my hooves as well. I attempt to cast Res and recover but an avalanche of dirt and mud pushes me further out of control. I shut my eyes and All I can hear or feel is the earth crashing around me until I feel myself come to a stop. I stand, feeling the soil roll off my coat as I climb out of the small amount that had buried me. I look around, not finding myself in the place where the others were fighting, but underground, in a cave of some sort. The cavern lights up around us slowly as Volt speaks. “Wow that fall took a lot more out of me than I thought. Illumination spells don’t usually make me so light headed.” I think idly as I shake some of the dirt off myself, an act which does nothing to help with the small headache I now have. How the hay is he so calm about falling down a cliff… ugh, my head… I turn to look at Volt to see him sitting and staring at the ground. He seems to be a bit discolored and his eyes have much more pronounced bags under them. “You don’t look too good.” He turns to look at me. “You don’t exactly look that great either.” It’s not like I expected to after that, but as I now notice my legs being a bit more shaky and my vision blurring a little, I grow a bit worried. I assess the symptoms and gulp as I come up with an explanation. “Well in my medical opinion it appears we have been poisoned, probably by that plant you got caught in. That, or we both have concussions, but those only account for a portion of the symptoms” A voice booms from the side, “Well, your medical opinion is quite correct.” The hulking form of Obsidian walks from the darkness of the cavern towards us. “The Everfree Blowdart is one of the main reasons this iron mine was closed. Too many ponies got poisoned and even a few died after the few hours because they didn’t get cured.” Both Volt and I immediately get ready to fight only for the dog to laugh. “You expect me to fight two poisoned ponies who I guarantee aren’t skilled at fighting?” Wordlessly, I narrow my eyes,I channelling magic into my horn and form my daggers. I hold them ready, knowing that if he was right, any fight that happened needed to be quick. “Woah,” Volt gasps, “I didn’t know you learned a weapon spell.” “Correction, I made a weapon spell. I felt I needed some offense rather than being support all the time.” I quickly Blink behind Obsidian and lunge forward with the blades. However, the dog is prepared as he swings his arms knocking both of my weapons away in a single movement. Shocked, I manage to Blink backwards out of his range. Volt meanwhile, has begun launching his lightning bolts only for them to have a negligible effect on the juggernaught. “You will find my armor is quite resistant to most magicks. I am disappointed that you two couldn’t do more to entertain me. Now, hand over the crystal or I shall be forced to take it.” He says in a commanding voice. I look to Volt and see a glowing light trickle from his saddle bags. My fellow unicorn stands tall as he faces down Obsidian. “I still have my one ultimate full proof strategy.” His horn glows as he charges a spell. His body flickers with energy before launching off into a sprint in the opposite direction. “It is time to retreat toward future victories!” He shouts as his voice gets fainter. ...did he just ditch me? I stand there shocked for a few moments before turning to run after him. “Running will only end up hurting the ones you love.” Obsidian states causing me to stop in my tracks. I turn back to the dog. “What do you mean?” He folds his arms and gives me a discerning look. “I’m saying look at the situation you are in. All you know right now is that you are underground. You don’t know how deep you are or what is above you. The poison won’t wait for you to find a map out of here. On the other hand I know my way out and could easily help you both out. All I would need is that crystal in return.” I open my mouth to respond, but find myself cut off before I can utter a sound. “My job is to collect as many of those star pieces as I can for my client. Just your job is to help sick animals,” he pauses for a moment, “and taking care of that young filly you adopted.” Alarms go off in my head as I tense up immediately. “How did you know that?” His teeth show in a grin. “Gathering information is one of our many specialties and in this situation I am the only one who can help you. I simply want you to help me retrieve that shard from your buffoon of a friend. He obviously doesn't have any idea what to do. Why would he run otherwise? With your magic it would be easy to make losing it look like an accident. In this situation you aren't betraying anybody. You are simply being the responsible adult that ponies rely on.” His words, both spoken and implied, affect me more than I would like to admit. Everything, from his points on how we are lost, to the small threat to Pinchy, weighs on a scale in my mind. Cursing myself, yet knowing at this point there is little else I can do, I look back at him as I dispel my weapons. “We get a way out?” He smiles devilishly “Absolutely.” Without another word I Res off down the tunnel following the hoof tracks in the soft dirt knowing I would find Volt at the end. I have no idea how long I traveled, one really can’t tell time in a tunnel light only by the barest green glow from my horn. As it always happens, the quiet inevitably forces me to listen to my thoughts… and right now they are in turmoil. I can’t betray my friend. Why not? It’s not like we’re killing him, if anything we’re ensuring his safety! By trusting a creature I don’t even know? That has goals so obviously opposite mine? Opposite goals or not, he makes sense! We’ll die down here anyway judging from how fast my energy is draining! And if I don’t? What if he was lying and I really do just have a concussion? Then I’m still lost, and he… he still knows about Pinchy. He can obviously find his way out easier than we can… he might… I don’t know that he would. I’m not willing to take that chance! So you would definitely hurt one to possibly save another? I… he… she… My thoughts grow dark and foggy as I continue down the tunnel, the swirling of emotions and logic finally broken up by the pale glow and silhouette of my friend leaning against a wall. I put on the brakes, my walk almost like a prowl as I approach him. Volt turns to look at me. “About time you caught up. What happened? Did you try to fight him by yourself?” I huff, my annoyance at his actions and stress of the situation bleeding into my tone. “No I merely took a wrong turn down one of the forking tunnels. Thanks for leaving me back there by the way.” “Sorry. We weren’t going to beat him like we were back there. I wanted to get some ground and think. I was hoping you would get the gist of what I was doing and follow suit. Sort of like that mental link you and Hydro have.” He says simply. I let out a small growl. “Hydro has been my best friend for years. One thing I know about him is that he would never abandon me in a situation like that.” Volt’s face drops. “Well I guess you're right, but it just didn’t seem like a good idea to stay there when Obsidian had the upper hand. Besides I think I have a way to beat-” I cut him off. "Obsidian isn't even our only threat right now. We are poisoned and lost underground. Have you figured out a way to get us above ground?" "Well I had this plan. .." "Then it better be a good one because a half baked plan isn't going to keep Pinchy from being orphaned and our marefriends from attending our funerals!" My furious outburst continues as I pick up a rock, if only to have something to vent on. "I would rather have made the journey with this rock, at least it wouldn't have gotten me poisoned and buried alive." Volt’s ears fold as he turns away, voice quiet. "I didn't realize I was such a nuisance to you. I just always want to do my best for everypony, but I just end up failing." I look at the rock gripped by my magic and back to Volt. I could just knock him out and take it from him. I could get us both out of here. He would forgive me, eventually… I raise the rock over his head as he looks away. My vision starting to blur a little more, tunnel vision forming as darkness narrows my vision. It would be so easy to fix this situation, but... why am I hesitating? Why can’t I follow through and do the smart thing. This has the most chance to work. This is the best course of action. Maybe... because it isn’t the right thing to do. I haven’t been much help in this situation either... Almost, and may have already, made things worse even… maybe… maybe I can change that... My face reflecting a myriad of emotions as I struggle with myself, I let out a roar as I turn around and throw the rock off into the tunnel. It clanks against the armor of Obsidian as he reveals himself from within the shadows. “Shame it has to be this way. I will be taking that star piece from you quite forcefully.” Obsidian growls. Volt steps forward glaring at Obsidian and then levitates the prize out of his saddlebags. “Here. If you want it take it.” The electric stallion throws it half the distance to him. “What are you doing?” I yell, my voice straining as I pant, my energy dropping even more. The dog moves in and picks up the shard. “Good to see one of you has common sense.” Volt doesn't respond, but instead charges forward at Obsidian. The armored canine simply responds by countering his charge with a single punch, launching him all the way back to where I’m standing. Snorting, the dog looks over the prize. “Well that was anticlimactic. But I suppose there are worse ways to try and catch someone off guard.” The ceiling of the tunnel begins to crumble as what looks like a large boulder falls out right above where he stands. Obsidian barely reacts in time but manages to drop the shard to catch it. He groans as he barely holds the incredible mass above his head. Volt get up and coughs.. “Right now we are in an iron mine, which is one of the more common magnetic metals. I was hoping for you to hit me right there so I could pass a permeability spell on to you. I essentially made you a super magnetic who easily attracts the large deposit which I lured you right under.” “I see. Maybe I underestimated you, but I can still survive this encounter.” The beast strains as he begins to lift the iron filled boulder higher. “Well....” Volt bites his lip trying to think. I take this time to summon a dagger. It didn’t pierce his armor last time, but maybe I can try something different. “That’s it!” Volt proclaims looking at my dagger. “Rhino your dagger couldn’t get past his armor last time, and neither could my magic, correct?” I nod. He continues, speaking quickly. “Well what if we weren’t hammering it on his armor, but instead we got under it?” I look down at the dagger, my eyes widening in revelation. “Volt, your plan is genius.” Giving him a grin, which he returns, I fully immerse myself in the natural magic my dagger is composed of in order to focus my remaining strength. Almost as if the weapon is connected to me by a tendril, I take aim at the small target, and propel the blade forward straight and true. With a squelch and a responding roar of pain from the dog, the dagger finds it’s mark… straight into his right eye. “Perfect” Volt declares as he steadies himself and launches a blast of electricity right into the daggers exposed hilt, the magical weapon eagerly accepting this new magic and sending a charge of electricity through their opponents body. The combination of pain and trauma proves to be enough for the dog to finally give in to the iron deposits weight and is buried beneath it. Volt walks over to pick up the star shard. ***3rd Person*** “Victory. Good thing too because I feel ready to keel over from this poison.” He looks up the hole the boulder came from. “I feel a draft. Rhino help me up.” Not getting a response, he looks over just in time to see the other stallion fall to his knees, eye glassy before he tumbles onto his side. “Aww man. That last fight took more out of you than I thought.” The still-conscious stallion’s vision begins to blur. “Not too mention my magic is waning at this point as well... Also I think I cracked a rib from taking that punch earlier.” Volt yammers on, not thinking to stop himself. “Don’t worry buddy, I’ll get you out of here.” He hoists Rhino onto his back, though the size difference seems to be taking it’s toll. “I now realize why Hydro put me through those unreasonable regimes: It was for situations like these.” Volt uses a combination of magnetism and telekinesis to lift the green stallion out of the hole and into a large open ravine. “Okay we have a lot higher to go and we might both be dying faster. Mondays, am I right?” Volt says to his unconscious friend. The sea green stallion looks down at the shard in his hooves. “Stars are good for wishes… Well, now is as good a time as any to try wishing. I wish we could be saved, please.” “Granted.” Volt turns his head to see Orion, Blue and Atom descending on their location. “Really? Wishing worked?” Volt says astounded. “No...the star hasn’t gone off the map yet.” Orion states. The electric stallion blinks. “Oh, well… we have the star shard, Obsidian is defeated, and Rhino and I are poisoned and need a cure.” “You’re what?!?” A familiar female voice exclaims as Twilight and Rarity teleport in. Volt looks to his marefriend, his voice slurring as his poison delusion starts to take over. “Hey babe, I’m feeling a bit light headed right now, but I could sure use some happy purple time.” Ignoring his words, Twilight walks over and leans against the stallion to support him. “Come on, let’s get you to Zecora’s. She’s got the antidote for pretty much everything in this forest.” The group transports their poisoned friends to the home of the Zebra shaman. Zecora reveals the cure to be the odd combination of an alligator spit bath under the light of the moon while breathing the fumes of special candles. Thus the bath was prepared thanks to Zecora’s odd yet convenient stockpile of alligator spit and the candles. Rhino was the first to be thrown in since he seemed the farthest gone. Volt stood there on the edge in somewhat disgust as the saliva splashes almost like goop.. “I am not sure if bathing with a dude in alligator spit is better than death.” He turns around to see Twilight giving him ferocious glare. “Get in.” “Yes honey.” Volt immediately falls backwards into the tub. She immediately takes peers into the pool and talks in her cheery voice. “Alright Volt I will be back to help you home in an hour.” The purple mare kisses her hoof and pats him on the head. “Have a good time. I love you.” Volt looks over the side. “I love you too, mom.” She sticks her tongue out at him and continues to walk out of sight. ***Rhino*** As I regain consciousness I can’t help but feel submerged. It was as if I was trapped in the ocean, only the water was thicker and slimier. I feel the need for air as I try and force my way to the top. Emerging I see my surroundings as still the Everfree but what looks like one of the trees built into a house. The ripples in the water cause me to look over to see my bathmate. “Enjoying your dip?” Volt says cheekily. “What is this?” I say confused as I wave my hoof at our entire situation. Volt points his hoof at the items. “Alligator spit, dragon candles, and moonlight. The cure to the poison.” I slowly remember. “Did we get the shard?” “Yep. Though the first two we still can’t find. But Orion said with the majority obtained Luna will be pleased.” Volt proudly states with a smile. “Thanks. I don’t really remember much...” I smile proudly at him. “ But I do remember you trying to lift me out of the hole. Thanks for that.” “Yeah, well it was the least I could do. I didn’t want to be complete failure of a friend.” Volt says, his ears flopping down. I wince at his words. “Listen. You were awesome back there. I was just letting the stress of everything get to me. Without you we wouldn’t have won back there. Hay, we probably wouldn’t have even survived.” Volt lays back against side, taking in the words. “Well, you inspired me to learn a few new tricks. You and Hydro both had something cool to show. I want to come up with something cool now.” I notice Volt’s bruised side “It wouldn’t hurt to try and learn a healing spell.” He sighs “Well the thing is I don’t think my magic is capable of that. My electricity magic seems to only be good for degeneration of cells. I had an idea for experimenting with my magic to use it revitalization of cells, but it still needs work. My magic is more complicated than I would like to admit.” I try to be supportive. “Well I’m sure you will come up with something.” A rustling is heard off the side as both of us look over to see something rummaging through Volt’s saddle bags. “Hey!” The bag’s owner shouts while jumping out of the tub. When he reaches his saddlebags a small form crawls out. A small timber wolf pup is munching on a sandwich stowed away in his saddlebags. Immediately forgetting his annoyance, the stallion bends down. “Hey little guy. Who are you and why are you eating my sandwich?” It continues eating as it stares up at him. ~Hmm. After getting hopelessly lost from my pack during the hunt I appear to have stumbled upon my prey. A beta male stallion from the looks. He will be simple to take down. I almost feel bad for him.~ The young timber wolf proceeds to start gnawing on Volt with his barely developed teeth. Meanwhile all Volt does is laugh as the bites simply tickle him. “Quit it pup.” He says through the laughs. “Boy you sure are friendly.” ~He appears to be a far tougher quarry than I thought. Nevertheless I shall pursue and take down.~ As Volt starts to walk away the small timber wolf follows and tries to pounce on his legs. “Huh. I think he likes me.” He looks down at it. “Do you want to come home with me?” Volt brings up a hoof and starts scratching the pup’s head. ~I would rather die than be take home by... Ahh yes right behind the ear. That is good. Perhaps I will humor you and be taken in. Indeed I shall use my prey and be showered in your gifts until I grow bored. Then when the time comes I shall take your body to the ancient feeding grounds and...Ohh So this is what a belly rub feel like.~ Volt holds up the wolf up with a smile. “I will call you Reginald Spruce Pinefield. Or Reggie for short. But I will definitely need to stock up on kibble and treats if you are going to live with me.” ~My name far exceeds the boundary of your boorish pony tongue and I will not be subjective to your preposterous petty pun pedigree.....And did you say Kibble and treat? Maybe I can play along for now.~ I look up at the sky, chuckling lightly as I sink into my disgusting bath. “Well, things never stay dull for long...”